Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez and Cristiano Ronaldo's agent Jorge Mendes "have closed the fringes" on a contract extension that will "make the Portuguese smile again," according to A. Alcázar of SPORT.es. The striker will earn €5M ($6.5M) more a year with the new contract. His current €10M ($12.9M) salary will jump to €15M ($19.4M), and his deal that was due to expire in '15 will now go through '17. The new agreement will see Ronaldo become the second-best paid footballer in the world behind Russian Premier League Anzhi Makhachkala's Samuel Eto'o who earns €20M ($25.8M) annually (SPORT.es, 10/11).

The Qatar 2022 World Cup Supreme Committee insisted on Thursday that it "would not ask FIFA to move the tournament from the summer due to the extreme temperatures in the country," according to the PA. However, former Holland star Ronald de Boer, who became an official ambassador for Qatar's bid after ending his playing career there, "effectively broke ranks." Qatar 2022 Communications & Marketing Dir Nasser al-Khater had "just finished outlining the country's cooling technology plans" at the Leaders in Football conference at Stamford Bridge in London when De Boer interjected. De Boer: "Sometimes, a change is good, and let's see what it does to the world of football. I don't see, really, difficulties. I think it's also beneficial for the tournament itself if it's in the winter. I played there. You can play, especially with the technology, it's amazing what's going to happen. Especially for the fans -- because football is for the fans -- it would be great if it's in the winter." Al-Khater was "adamant it was up to the game's governing body to act." He said, "We're a host and, at the end of the day, the questions you're asking should be asked to the people who govern world football" (PA, 10/11).

Italian Serie A Juventus President Andrea Agnelli "questioned UEFA's willingness to ban big-spending clubs from the Champions League if they breach its Financial Fair Play regulations," according to Rob Harris of the AP. Speaking at the Leaders in Football conference, Agnelli highlighted that throwing a major club out of the Champions League "would risk antagonizing the broadcasters," which have bought their rights from UEFA. Agnelli said, "Even if you have FFP, are [UEFA] going to ban three teams from participating in the UCL? Who will go to say to the broadcasters we (UEFA) haven't got the three teams playing? Is there going to be a correction in the overall value of the TV rights?" He added, "We, as Juventus, are working with FFP in mind. I am curious to see who is working with FFP in mind -- really. And once the FFP rules come into effect, I am curious as how effective that will be and how the actual punishments will be distributed in case someone breaches financial fair play" (AP, 10/10). SPOX.com wrote that the goal of UEFA's FFP is to make sure club's "do not become highly indebted anymore." UEFA will start auditing clubs' balances in '13 (SPOX.com, 10/10).